National Library of Australia


The University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne Library

Law Library


Summary subject collecting information (definitions of the ALG collecting levels are available for reference):


Agriculture

Anthropology

Art and architecture

    Comments: Basic general collection of material on the visual arts with wide historical & geographic coverage. Emphasis on the 19th-20th Centuries & on SE Asia, East Asian & Pacific regions. Selection of the more important periodicals on the history of Western art & architecture & strong collection of reference sources support the monograph collection. Some general research level strengths, although these are regarded historical rather than current.

    Comments: Yves Coffin collection of photographs of Bali, Cham, Javanese, Khmer and Thai art, architecture and sculpture. Javanese series = 1,000 photographic prints from most of the temple sites such as Borobadur, Sari, Sewu, Pringapus, Mendut, Kidul, Lara Djonggrong et al. and items from the collection of the National Museum in Djakarta. Cham series = 300 photographs taken from the Municipal Museum, Danang and the National Museum, Saigon. Photographs of sculpture from South Asia on microfiche.

    Comments: The general monograph and serial collection is minimal, with some notable historical monographs and runs of serials. However collections relating to Australia are at research level. The National Library's Pictorial Collection includes an extensive collection of photographs covering events and aspects of life in Australia, especially those of national importance.

    Comments: The Library's Film and Video Lending Collection is managed by the Cinemedia organisation in Melbourne.

    Comments: Museology has been collected to support, in the first instance, the Library's own program of preservation and exhibition activities.

Biological sciences

    Comments: Richard Booth formed collection of 231 items on evolution provides a little historical depth.

    Comments: Strengths include publications of the Linnean Society of London, and microfilm copies of manuscripts held by the Society, which relate to Australia. Relevant material from the British Museum (Natural History) is held as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project and commercially published microfilm sets. Botanists such as Sir Joseph Banks and Robert Brown, and artists such as Ferdinand Bauer, Susan Fereday, Ellis Rowan and Adam Forster are also represented.

    Comments: Mathews Ornithological Collection from noted ornithologist Gregory Macalister Mathews (1876-1949), comprises books, pamphlets, reprints, manuscripts & pictorial material is regarded as the most comprehensive collection relating to the study of Australian birds to be assembled. Include watercolours by the Cayleys, John Gould, J.W. Lewin & Lilian Medland; manuscripts include those of Mathews himself, Gould & Sylvester Diggles. Also hold National Photographic Index of Australian Birds.

    Comments: collection of 6,000 volumes of periodicals and 600 monographic works on entomology from the library of Elwood C. Zimmerman, an authority on weevils and Pacific insects, provides some historic depth to the collection. Part of this collection is on long term loan to CSIRO Black Mountain.

Chemistry

Computer science

Economics and business

    Comments: There are some notable strengths in the microform collections.

    Comments: Strong in reference and directory information.

    Comments: Information on the economic situation in individual countries and regions has been collected to research level in the past. Works on banks and banking were collected in similar depth. Strengths in this subject also come from ongoing deposit arrangements with the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation and other intergovernmental organisations, along with government publications dealing with economic subjects from Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States of America.

    Comments: The collection consists mainly of material from Great Britain and the United States of America, with an emphasis on the general principles governing the subject.

Education

    Comments: Non-Australian textbooks, curriculum materials, teacher education resources and related materials are not acquired.

    Comments: Current collecting focuses on aspects relating to policy development and the planning of educational systems. The publications of education-related intergovernmental organisations such as UNESCO and government publications from Canada, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and countries of Asia and the Pacific provide an additional resource.

Technology

    Comments: Notable historical strengths relating to aviation include the Ernest Crome collection on Australian aviation and Austin E. Byrne collection of material relating to the Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm crossing of the Pacific in the Fokker Southern Cross flight in 1928 from California to Australia.

Geography and earth sciences

    Comments: Basic collection of dictionaries, encyclopaedias, comprehensive global overviews & a few key serial titles covering various disciplines. Apart from the significant range & quantity of material acquired through deposit & exchange arrangements with various government instrumentalities & learned bodies, such as geological surveys, meteorological offices and oceanographic institutes, which approaches a higher level, the existing collection is predominantly at the basic or minimal level.

    Comments: Maps, atlases, aerial & remote sensing images, globes & electronic spatial data. Gazetteers & literature related to the science & art of map production. Significant historical collection of Australian maps & modern topographic mapping. Extensive overseas collection - current concentration on regions nearest to Australia. Standard topographic, aeronautical & hydrographic chart series are high priority. Wide range of thematic mapping & rare maps re European discovery & exploration of Australia.

History and biography

    Comments: History of France, with less emphasis on Germany & Italy. Concentration on 1789 French Revolution - main periodicals held (original or microcopy); more than 12,000 pamphlets supplemented by microcard copies of pamphlets in the Talleyrand, Melvin & other American collections; statutes in several cumulations running through Napoleonic period. Gosse collection includes Napoleon's exile in St Helena; 44 newspapers published at the time. 1848 Revolution & 1870-71 crisis well represented.

    Comments: Extensive collecting since 1950s, augmented by notable formed collections: J.M. Braga collection on the Portuguese in Asia; Professor George Coedes (1886-1970) collection on Indo-China; Professor H.G. Luce (1889-1979) collection on Burma; Professor H. Otley Beyer (1883-1966) on the Philippines; Harold S. Williams (1898-1987) collection on Japan; London Missionary Society collection relating to the Taiping Rebellion & Christianity in China. Microform resources also considerable.

    Comments: The collection is uneven, and generally at the basic level. Two special collections are devoted to the former Belgian Congo and French exploration and activity in Africa. The Library also holds a notable privately formed collection of approximately 4500 pieces on Mauritius.

    Comments: America on Record: a guide to works and other materials relating to the United States of America in the National Library of Australia (published in 1976 to mark the Bicentenary of American independence), details the NLA's extensive collection of books, serials, government documents, maps and microforms relating to the United States. Materials relating to Canada are slightly less extensive but include government publications and a microform collection of Canadiana published prior to 1900.

    Comments: The Mendel collection, together with the Guimares, Lacap-Booth, Lopez and Paraguayan collections were transferred on long-term loan to La Trobe University Library in 1991.

    Comments: Australian library materials collected include: print materials (monographs, serials, newspapers, ephemera, music scores & sheet music); microforms; manuscripts; pictorial materials (paintings, drawings, prints, posters and photographs); maps (atlases & sheet maps); oral history tapes; & electronic publications (hard copy CD-ROM, and on disk from the Internet). Major formed collections include the Rex Nan Kivell collection, Ferguson collection & the E.A Petherick collection.

    Comments: Extensive collection of material relating to Antarctica - includes comprehensive collection relating to the Australian Territory, most publications of expeditions to the Mainland of Antarctica, significant holdings of maps, manuscripts & pictorial material including diaries, papers & photographs of figures such as T. Griffith Taylor & Frank Hurley. Considerable resources relating to the Pacific. Comprehensive microfilm collection of manuscript material copied by the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau .

Language and literature

Law [Research]
- Law (general) [Research]
- International law [Research]
- Constitutional and administrative law [Research]
- Military, tax, trade and industrial law [Research]
- Social law [Study - Advanced]
- Criminal law [Research]
- Private law [Study - Advanced]
- Civil procedure and courts [Study - Advanced]
- Statutes, regulations and cases [Research]
- Law of specific jurisdictions [Study - Advanced]

Library science and interdisciplinary works

    Comments: Bibliographies, general encyclopaedic works, & guides to general organisations are represented in the collection by a wide variety of works. Wide but not comprehensive collection of National bibliographies. For the major publishing nations, bibliographies supplemented, where possible, by national trade publications listing in-print titles. Selected individual booksellers' & publishers' catalogues in fields which the institution has actively collected.

    Comments: Good cross-section of the monograph & serial literature, with some aspects of the discipline relevant to the Library's own fields of operation held at research or near research level - including: all functions associated with the development, control, management & preservation of a large collection; provision of reference, referral & document delivery services; functions of national coordination and international liaison; activities of management, promotion & innovative technological support.

    Comments: A wide variety of general encyclopaedias in English and other languages is held in the collection together with guides to general organisations at the national and international levels.

    Comments: Extensive collection of newspapers. Collect all Australian capital city dailies, as well as major country newspapers, newspapers published by ethnic groups & political organisations, as well as newspapers representing special interests. Overseas collection is made up of a wide selection of major national & international papers with titles from most countries of the world.

Mathematics

Medicine

Music

Performing arts

    Comments: Printed works from overseas related to film and the film industry have been collected to an intermediate level to support the Library's film and video lending collection, which is now administered and managed in Melbourne by Cinemedia.

Philosophy and religion

Physical education, recreation and sport

    Comments: Besides Australian publications collected comprehensively, several formed collections on cricket (integrated into the main collection) provide some additional strengths to the collection.

    Comments: Collections of Dr G.P. Charles (covering all aspects of angling) and Sir Peter Crisp (fishing) constitute a notable research level strength.

Physics and astronomy

Political and military studies

    Comments: A strong collection of monographs and a wide selection of serials on government and public administration form the core of the Library's collection in this topic. General works on the subject are acquired as well as relevant government publications from the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States of America, New Zealand and the countries of East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.

    Comments: The history of individual armed conflicts has been collected at greater depth, notably World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War.

Psychology

Sociology

Highlights of the collection: Comprehensive Common Law jurisdiction holdings - law reports & legislation for all Australia, NZ, UK, US & Canada. Extensive foreign law reports and legislation held, including Asian, European, and International Law Reports and Journals.

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